Pages

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The Kids Are All Right (In Comics, At Least)

Also the best art.

If you aren't way into comics, this
might surprise you to hear, but most comics are not written for
teenagers. It's true. The average comic is written for an audience in
their 20s-30s, people who were teenagers and buying comics about ten
years ago. There's a simple reason behind this, and it has to do with
disposable income, demographics, and shifting market base, but what
it all really boils down to is the fact that most comics aren't
really targeted at teenagers, no matter what stereotypes may suggest.

There are, however, specialty titles in
both Marvel and DC that are
aimed at "young adults", with adolescent characters going
through relatable, if still supersized, problems. Titles like Young
Avengers, or Teen
Titans, The Runaways,
Young Justice and
others, are all based around a group of teenaged superheroes, trying
to get their homework done and get by in a world of adult-sized
crime.

And
get this. These are pretty much the best stories going.

I felt
a little weird, at first, since a fair number of these have premiered
long after I was of an age to read them inconspicuously, but I've
delved right in, and I have to say that teen comics right now are the
frontlines of storytelling and character work. We're going to examine
a couple of them now, and talk about why I think these are some of
the best stuff on the market.

Young Avengers

Okay,
right away, this seems like a really dumb ripoff of The
Avengers storyline, where Marvel
was just blatantly trying to cash in on their younger readers. But my
college roommate persuaded me to read a little further, and I'm
really glad I did. The Young Avengers are a group of teenagers in the
Avengers universe,
who've all been affected by superpowers in some way shape or form.
Patriot is their leader, an African-American kid whose grandfather
was the original Captain America--of course they tested the serum on
a black soldier first. It's the sort of story point that makes
perfect sense in hindsight and really draws out the world of the
characters. Patriot fights in his grandfather's name.

There's
also Cassie Lang, or Stature, daughter of the second Ant-Man. She
attempts to hold up her father's legacy of protecting people just
like he protected her, and she mourns his loss. Billy and Teddy
(Wiccan and Hulkling) are two out gay teenagers in a loving and
relatively stable relationship, who happen to be superheroes. Kate
Bishop just wanted to be a hero, and received Captain America's
blessing when he gave her Hawkeye's original bow.

The
kids are doing just fine.

Teen Titans

For a
lot of people my age, Teen Titans
is probably how they got into comics, or at least how they got into
cartoons. Both a long-running comic and a show since 2003, this story
was intended to be Justice League-lite, but became more of an imprint
of how teenagers could really carry a story.

The
best known members of the team consist of Tim Drake as Robin,
Superboy, Wonder Girl, Starfire, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, and a few
others. While the everyday stories dealt with everything from
rampaging villains to schoolboy crushes, the characters retained
consistent motivations and values throughout imprints, with strong
views on their different cultural backgrounds. Starfire, for example,
comes from a free love society, a notion that was explored on many
occasions, where she made it clear that this did not condone
meaningless sex, but emphasized the need for more love and connection
between partners. Communication, value exchange, and fighting
intergalactic evil. These are things we like.

Of
note, of course, is the fact that since the New 52 reboot, the Teen
Titans title has been gutted,
and its characters have become shells of themselves. Starfire is now
a slut because sex has no meaning, no one has feelings for anyone
ever, and storylines are for the weak. Anyway.

Runaways

Another
Marvel title that really took off after I was allowed to appreciate
it, Runaways is
ostensibly about a group of kids who find out that their parents are
supervillains, and decide to take them down. Then they do, and a
bunch of other stuff happens, and being a superhero is never easy,
did you think it would be?

One of
my favorite things about Runaways
is that it is casually female-centric. It's not a big thing, a plot
point, or ever really mentioned, it's just a fact that most of the
characters are teenage girls who found out that their parents had
been lying to them. There are boys too, but a lot more girls. It
happens. Sometimes there are more daughters than sons. That's more
than okay with me.

I also
appreciate this series because they tell slightly different stories.
The Runaways don't wear costumes, don't participate with the other
Marvel storylines, though they exist in the same timeline, and try to
keep to themselves, on purpose. They're just regular kids in
completely extraordinary circumstances, and like regular kids, they
want to be as far away from the adults as possible. I get that.

Young Justice

Young Justice
is basically Teen Titans.
Essentially. I mean, I'll give DC a little credit and point out that
they weren't running the same characters in the same teams
concurrently (not like how Wolverine was on pretty much every Marvel
team for a while there), but it's not very different. Kiddie Justice
League, has Robin and Superboy and friends, they fight evil and
ignore the adults.

The
nice thing is that Young Justice
appears to have picked up where Teen Titans
left off. While that series is currently mired in miles of ick, this
one is merrily skipping along being friendly and having appropriate
conversations that teenagers can relate to.

If I
have a young adult audience that favors DC, then I recommend READ
THIS ONE. The stories are interesting and well-told, there are lots
of strong female characters, alongside beloved regulars like Tim
Drake, and it never takes itself too seriously.

What
more do you want from a teen imprint?

So,
basic conclusions...

Overall,
comics are in a funny place right now. While Marvel caters to a
rapidly aging fanbase that seems obsessed with interlocking
storytelling ala Civil War
and The Infinity Gauntlet,
DC is trying desperately to reach out to new readers with a full on
reboot that has only made it more confusing and less appealing to
first timers.

But
in the blissful world of YA comics, story still reigns supreme, and
with a few bumps in the road, there are still places to go to get
good, interesting stories that you won't feel weird recommending to
anybody, and that won't leave you feeling like a piece of crap for
reading them. They're telling diverse, girl-inclusive, imaginative, dinosaur-involved stories, with time-travel and revenge and surprise parentage and more.

2 comments:

So true. YJ is a consistently great comic (and one of my current favorite cartoons), and Young Avengers and Runaways are excellent too. I also really enjoy Avengers Academy, which has a nice mix of legacy and singular characters.